Sunday, October 10, 2021

KALILILY TIME -- AGEISM -- BLESSED RAIN -- EXIT 9

"Kalilily Time" by Elaine -- a writer/blogger/poet of interest who has been in the blogosphere since blogging's beginnings -- read the "Who" and "Why" by clicking on her blog above.   Like many of us life has resulted in her needing to take a hiatus from time to time and I've missed her when that has occurred, so let's welcome Elaine back!  

Elaine's poetry has appeared in numerous publications.   She also wrote some very interesting blog posts which she has resumed doing in the past few days.  An excerpt from one of her recent blog posts says: 

"...I've been trying to track down other bloggers around my age to see if we can develop into a virtual community of kindred spirits.   That's what I had back in the 2000s, and I miss the virtual camaraderie."

I think you may want to pay her a visit to welcome her back by clicking on her blog above at her web URL:  http://www.kalilily.net/

* * *
I've had a rude awakening, or in the vernacular of today, I'm woke.  I discovered I may actually be ageist when I wrote to my adult children a description of my experience when I recently attended an afternoon outdoor jazz concert.  I referred to some other people there with descriptive words well beyond saying they were old, which, of course, I am, too, so I'll omit any of that ageist language which might be seen as offensive.  

The concert afternoon stayed hot in the mid to low 90s as I sat in my car in the parking lot right next to the concert area patio of the Japanese restaurant, with all of my car windows down.  I turned the A/C on briefly only once since I didn't want to run down my battery during those hours and my gas was rather low.  

I digress ..... but I haven't filled my gas tank, expecting rates will go down from the $4.40+ per gallon.  Now I learn that's not likely to happen any time soon and the price could go up -- to $5 or more!  Clearly, I better fill up my car's gas tank soon.

No doubt you've heard we've had a big oil leak off our Pacific Coast originating in the Long Beach area, with the oil slick moving southward, possibly to San Diego, adversely affecting the environment -- ocean life creatures including sea lions and otters, dolphins, fish, birds covered in oil though only a few needing rescuing so far, wetlands damage, pollution of numerous beaches.

Early aid to mitigate some of the potential problems has helped the total damage be less to date than had been expected.  The cause is presently thought to be a ship's 's anchor dragging and ripping open the oil pipeline, possibly occurring as long ago as a year earlier, but the definite cause is yet to be determined.  I expect the oil companies might cite that as another excuse for our high gas prices.  When will offshore oil drilling everywhere permanently cease?

Back to the concert ..... I enjoyed the young Exit 9 trio (note: current YouTube musical group videos with this name are not this group) who played classic mellow jazz standards including a favorite of mine, "On Green Dolphin Street", plus a few pop songs through the decades, other newer tunes, also easy listening compositions some call smooth jazz.The Exit 9 trio consisted of a keyboard, guitar and drums.  A duo of guitars played one short segment.  I hope this group is invited to return each month as I told them.   The next week's performing group, ZZAJis a longtime favorite of mine about which I've written HERE before.

Here are two different versions of "On Green Dolphin Street",  one with noted Pianist Peter Nero with orchestra, the other with the Latin beat of talented musician Sergio Mendes.

Peter Nero -- The Unforgettable  -- Sheet Music & mp3 - Okmusix 


Sergio Mendes -- Moderno - Milestones Records 


Continuing the now-edited-to-remove-ageist-attitude-wordings report of my experience ..... I had a pretty good view of the Exit 9 jazz trio, could hear the music fine, but sometimes people on the patio moving to seek shade, as the sun crossed the sky, would block part of my view.  There was only a low wall and greenery between them and me, but, irritatingly to me, some seated at the back of the patio closest to my car parked headed-in next to them in the parking lot, paid no consideration at all to my presence behind them they had to have seen.  They were inconsiderate, unlike those sitting on the patio in front of them were for them, so they could see.  

I wrote disparaging descriptions later to my children of the old man, and an old woman there who chatted with him as the concert wore on.  My negative attitude toward them was obviously colored by the fact they kept interfering with my view.  I didn't want to toot my car's horn, but I sure felt like doing so several times.

In my message to my kids, I groused about the guy's appearance and ponytail, was rather snide about her appearance in a backless, very very short sundress that I'm more accustomed to seeing on a much younger woman.  Actually, she was very smart, definitely, including her big red hat, and wisely dressed for the extremely hot afternoon of well over 90 degree temperatures.  Comfort and safety from heat stroke is the name of the game.  They were both quite respectable representatives of their 60s generation.

People mostly sat some distance apart with less casual interaction than pre-pandemic days.  Nobody wore a mask, but I had one at the ready in my car, especially since the decrease in Covid infections had instead gone up in both the public and our schools -- attributed to the unvaccinated, of course!

There's usually a pretty friendly group at these free jazz concerts -- a few folks came together, but a number of both sexes came and left alone.  Strangers talked with one another between tunes and during breaks.  I do recall one individual years ago who was married, apparently lived on my street, though I had never known of him or his family.  Some in the musical group seemed to know him, or maybe he had just been showing up for their concerts before I started attending after my husband died.  

The man was a big talker everybody could hear with his comments between sets directed toward varying musicians, sometimes naming an instrument he said he played.  At one point, he spoke disparagingly of marriage with broad statements, then intimating he would welcome meeting someone he could rendezvous with in a nearby town.  

Later that afternoon after that statement he called me over, then started talking quite confidentially, but didn't make much sense.  He finally gave me a weak excuse for this talk in his one-sided conversation of having a toe problem that didn't sound like much of one to me but suggesting I might want to examine him.  I don't know what he had in mind since he wasn't removing his shoe and sock to show me, though I wouldn't have looked anyway.  Did he really want medial advice from me -- there, in front of others?

I nicely explained to him his toe was quite out of my area of expertise since, I stressed to him, I was a Speech-Language Pathologist -- we weren't exactly trained in toe rehabilitation.  I walked away and we never talked again.   I shared that conversation, laughing it all away, with the vocalist with whom I had become friends.  He never showed up at the concerts again, at least when I was there.  I think he and his family eventually may have moved away to that town he mentioned.

* * *
I'm in disbelief -- we actually received about one-tenth of an inch of rain here in my SoCal foothills!  Furthermore, we may get a dribble or drop more later.  This will hardly matter much to alleviate our drought, but "every little bit helps", as the saying goes.  Mammoth Mountain even had snow -- a ski area, driving time approximately 5 hours from Los Angeles, 3 hours south of Reno, Nevada.  Our temperatures have dropped considerably and finally begin to feel like fall.

Are the seasons noticeably changing where you live?  Do you listen to your favorite music to influence your mood for weathering the vagaries of life, including pandemic confinement or isolation, to distract from or escape pain, or perhaps loneliness due to other reasons?


20 comments:

  1. Our monsoon which should have exited over three weeks ago is still active and we are getting heavy showers, flooding and other problems associated with it. Very peculiar this year.

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    1. I wish we could have some of your excess rain, if you have such.

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  2. That oil spill is such a mess and it is terrible for our environment. I feel so for those hapless birds and fish who will die. Sounds like the oil company was really slack in reporting it. Hadn't thought about it but you are probably right about the oil prices. Yours are certainly high enough all ready. We are at $3.02 now and we are the highest in the state. Most areas are under three dollars.
    That was funny about the guy wanting you to examine his toe. Great response.

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    1. Just heard a news report this morning regarding the birds -- they check the beaches early every morning and are finding very few oiled birds which seems to be surprising everybody. There is concern for the wetlands in the future since the areas had already been diminished in size, but they had been protected as much as they could when the oil came. They said migrating birds will begin to come and they aren't sure what to expect will occur since clearing wetland areas of oil has been more problematic.

      We have the highest gas prices on the mainland ordinarily year 'round, partly due to our state's environmental requirements adopted to reduce air pollution. Our previous President wanted to lower standards all over the country and force California to lower ours, too, even though auto manufacturers reportedly didn't support doing so. Our state government and people would have fought this tooth and nail had he succeeded -- our health .. adults, children, infants .. was at stake! This has made a significant difference notable in Los Angeles and in the County where I live. I see the difference in our air since we moved here four decades or so ago, but we still need further air pollution reduction -- in vehicle exhaust for one thing.

      We pay for this, but I and others sometimes wonder if the oil companies are having us pay a bit more than need be. We have seasonal fuel mix changes that contribute to cost, but some note there often seems to be unexpected breakdowns of various fuel sites necessitating shutting them down for maintenance repair which affects supply and distribution. Interestingly, at the beginning of the pandemic when people were staying home and traffic was so light on our freeways and everywhere else, our air quality was much better than it had been. With traffic resuming as before our air quality diminishes.

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  3. People can be strange when recovering from the rules of the pandemic or perhaps being on some medication. I watch what I do an say as there are some strange side-effects to the medicine I am taking. Glad you got to hear the concert.

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    1. I'm sure that's quite true, especially anyone who may have had the virus and experiences those afterward long term effects. That clearly wasn't a concern with my toe man since that event took place several years ago, long before the pandemic, but I don't know if he was taking medication which he probably would have talked about since he did so much other.

      I do hope your meds give you benefits you want and your side-effects aren't too strange. I guess trying to maintain a sense of humor, whatever happens, could be a possible way to cope.

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  4. We've had one of the wettest and hottest summers on record here in NEO. I very much wish we could have sent our rain to you, not just to get rid of it here, but because you need it so very badly. I read in the NYT that the wildfires there have destroyed an area the size of Rhode Island--millions of acres are devastated, and redwoods are lost. It's a tragedy.

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    1. We’d love to have some of you over-abundant rain. Yes, those redwood losses are a tragedy. We can only wonder what future years may bring.

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  5. It often seems to me like we are a bunch of different countries rather than states...especially when it comes to weather. We have been getting way too much rain and strange temps.

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    1. We could well be a number of different little countries like in Europe with differences more than just weather. We took the unique steps of becoming “united” which has been our nation’s strength. Now, it’s close to becoming our undoing with a minority of citizens with warped extreme views betraying the very views that brought us all together. It’s no wonder California that has one of the top economies in the world, a very large population, but has only the same power in the Senate as very small states with very few people by comparison, might consider wanting to leave this union. I’m sure other states would oppose this but there may be limits to what can be accepted by the people in this state. Would become very messy.

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  6. I, too, am a jazz lover ... much to my coworkers' displeasure. But my taste run to Erin Bode, Diana Krall, Billie Holiday, Duke Ellington, and Louie Armstrong. I have my main character in many of my books to be the owner of a haunted French Quarter jazz club, Meilori's ... shades of Peter Gunn! :-)

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    1. Nice to hear from another who appreciates jazz including all those names you mention. Lots of new jazz artists, too, with names I can’t keep up with. Your character and setting sounds interesting. Thanks for stopping by.

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  7. It is an odd fact that as we get older ourselves we recognize others as "old people" when they are sometimes even younger than we are. Part of it is due to our fitness level, both physical and mental, as compared with others. Thank goodness I am still fit and robust and can lead a bird walk of ten kilometres without difficulty, and fill the day with interesting commentary and provide educational details to the participants. I say this not out of a sense of vanity, but based on the fact that my walks are filled as soon as they are announced. That is testament enough. When I then see someone using a walker, or fumbling with his change at the supermarket checkout, it is not much of a leap to refer to them as "old". I will be seventy-nine in February, by the way.

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    1. Wonderful that you are so active and can give pleasure to so many people doing something you enjoy so much yourself.

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  8. This conversation you had with that man with the bad toe made me chuckle. Thank God, he did not undress and show you his body! But, it was good for you to get out and listen to jazz. Always nice to do that.

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    1. Never know what some people will say or do.

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  9. Our gas prices have soared but the move is on to convert us all to hybrids or full electrics - happening in other countries too.

    I smiled when I read your bit about condemning the old. I mutter nasty remarks about seniors driving under my breath when I can clearly see they are younger than me.

    The collusion of government and these oil giants makes me sick. I believe we don't know the half of it.

    XO
    WWW

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    1. Hybrids are increasingly popular new car purchases here, too, as are the all electrics including conversions in the L.A. transit system.

      I recommend the book Dark Money by Jane Mayer to get a picture of just how much secretive big money detrimentally influences government.

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  10. I hadn't heard of the big oil leak off the Pacific Coast, but then our media are obsessed with Brexit and other domestic issues. The sooner oil is replaced by renewable energy the better.

    The guy with the (supposed) toe problem sounds weird. Why would he want to brandish his toe in the middle of a concert? Maybe some kind of toe fetishist?

    Yes, listening to my favourite music definitely lifts my mood and distracts me from all the covid stuff. An engrossing book helps too.

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    1. Officials have recently said the oil leak hasnt been as severe as they initially thought but still bad enough. Now they warn people to watch out for oil balls on the beaches and not to pick them up.

      I dont think toe man intended to show me his toe at the concert but perhaps to meet him elsewhere.

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